The present invention relates generally to an automated reconciliation system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for the reconciliation of unsold publications s by a retail or wholesale vendor.
In the publishing industry, the process of reconciling unsold publications has become a familiar exercise for retail and wholesale vendors. A vendor of publications, such as newspapers, magazines and books, must go through a reconciliation process with the publisher to be reimbursed for unsold copies.
This reconciliation process is common for vendors of daily newspapers. Typically, at the end of the day, a vendor has a number of unsold copies remaining. The masthead off of the front of each unsold newspaper must be cut or torn off and mailed back to the publisher for reimbursement. It is not uncommon for a newspaper publisher, for example, to receive thousands of torn mastheads every day requiring manual reconciliation. This known system of reconciliation is of publications requires the publisher, or intermediary wholesaler or distributor, to employ large numbers of customer service and accounting personnel for tabulating and reconciling torn mastheads and the like. As a result, it often takes weeks before the vendor is reimbursed for the unsold publications. Further, vendors typically order only what they are sure they will sell due to the tedious reconciliation process and the significant delays in reimbursement.
Due to the foregoing disadvantages of known publication reconciliation systems, it is desirous for a vendor of a publication to be able to quickly and easily reconcile unsold periodicals and receive prompt reimbursement therefor. Additionally, a computerized reconciliation system is desirable to automate the entire process to greatly improve speed and accuracy of publication reconciliation.